The Gut Microbiome & Why You Need to Nurture It!

Maybe you’ve heard about the “good” and “bad” bacteria in the gut — but do you know why they matter, and what role they play in your overall health? What role do they play in preventing disease? We are talking all about the gut microbiome, and why you need to nurture it in order to feel your best.

What Is The Gut Microbiome?

The term “gut microbiome” refers to the bacteria, archaea, viruses and eukaryotic microbes residing in the body. Healthy adults typically have more than 1,000 species of bacteria in their gut.

This amounts to over 100 trillion microbial cells and 3-5 pounds of bacteria in our digestive system. Long story short, there are a LOT of these guys — these bacteria cells out-number human cells 10-to-1.

Bacteria begin to “colonize” or grow in the gastrointestinal tract at birth, and they remain there throughout the rest of your life.

Our bodies have cultivated a mutually beneficial relationship with this bacteria — when they’re happy, you’re healthy. No surprise here — your diet greatly affects your gut flora — and you’ll want to nurture this bacteria in the gut if you want to feel good.

What Science Tells Us

These microbes help direct the traffic flow along the connection between our gut and our brain. This direct connection, known as “the gut-brain connection”, makes up two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells that line your gastrointestinal tract. The cells run all the way from your esophagus to your rectum via the vagus nerve. Emerging research continues to show us how the gut directly influences human physiology, metabolism, and immune function.

Physiology

Research has shown how microbiota influence behavior and the central nervous system, which affects brain function. It’s also shown us how the microbiota can influence energy balance.

Nutrient Uptake and Metabolism

The microbiome produces vitamins, synthesizes amino acids, and can carry out the biotransformation of bile.

The microbiome also makes the metabolism of nondigestible carbohydrates happen. Any resistant starches, pectins, gums, and large polysaccharides, as well as unabsorbed sugars and alcohols, are metabolized thanks to the bacteria. When this happens, the body recovers energy and nutrients to feed the bacteria.

After digesting fiber, some bacteria can also produce short-chain fatty acids, a critical type of healthy fat for good gut health.

Immune Function

The gut microbiome “trains” your immune system by communicating with immune cells about how to respond to infection.

You'll want to nurture the 'good' bacteria in your gut if you want to feel good, every day.

Why You Need to Nurture Your Gut

All of these millions of microbes in your gut microbiome play a huge role in basic functions that directly affect our overall health. As shared above, they contribute to our metabolism, they control inflammation, they help harvest nutrients from food, they produce vitamins, and they protect our bodies against viruses, bacteria, and infections by “training” our immune system, and more. These functions have both a direct and indirect effect on our physiological systems — aka, how we feel, every day.

A happy and healthy gut microbiome controls your gut health. It works with the intestines, it digests food, and it keeps the “bad” bacteria from sticking to the walls of your intestine.

Abnormalities in the gut microbiome have been associated with inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, antibiotic-associated colitis, and obesity.

When the gut bacteria are deprived of the fermentable fibers that they feed on, they switch their food source to the mucus lining of your gut. Sound important? That’s because it is — the mucus lining keeps the gut wall intact and protected from infection. When this lining wears down, a host of health problems can happen, including obesity, depression and Type 2 diabetes.

Emerging research continues to shed light on the gut microbiome and its role in overall health and in disease. This research is incredibly important for us to better understand how to feel better every single day, as well as to better understand how diseases develop and find ways to prevent them.

5 Ways to Nurture Your Gut Microbiome

Our diet is one of the most effective tools we can use to change the microbiota in our gut. These “good” bacteria eat fermentable fiber, which can be found in foods like wheat, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, lentils, beans, onions, and garlic. Fermentable fibers make their way down to the gut microbiota in the digestive tract because they don’t get digested by human-made enzymes.

1. Prioritize plant-based and whole foods — these fiber-rich foods are important to feed the gut bacteria and keep your digestion regular.

2. Limit the use of antibiotics — these can kill off the infection, but they also kill the “good” bacteria while they’re at it.